Q: What is PlainRaw?
A minimal and free text sharing service built on first principles. Create a snippet, get two links: one for editing (private) and one for sharing (public, returns raw text/plain only).
PlainRaw
Free Text Hosting
Paste your text and get a direct text/plain URL.
Free, with no signup.
raw text/plain output
curl friendly
separate edit link
no account needed
- 1. Paste your text
- 2. Create your snippet
- 3. Share the raw URL
Anyone with the raw URL can read your text. Keep the edit link to yourself, and keep passwords, API keys, and personal data out of public snippets.
new-snippet.txt
// Paste or type your text here...
0 / 30,000
1 lines
Create Snippet
new-snippet.txt
// Paste or type your text here...
0 / 30,000
1 lines
Create Snippet
Try a real raw text example
Open this public example to see the text itself, or save the same content as a
.txt file.
PlainRaw raw text example
This response contains plain text, without an HTML page around it.
Line breaks and indentation are part of the text:
project=PlainRaw
format=text/plain
Unicode stays readable too: café, 你好, 🌿
Fetch with curl
Inspect the response headers for Content-Type: text/plain,
or save the response to a file.
# Show headers and text
curl -i https://www.plainraw.com/examples/raw-text.txt
# Save a .txt file
curl -fS -o plainraw-example.txt https://www.plainraw.com/examples/raw-text.txtWhy PlainRaw?
Unlike traditional pastebins that wrap content in HTML, PlainRaw returns pure
text/plain
— ideal for curl,
CI/CD pipelines, and programmatic access. Share read-only URLs while keeping edit access private.
Learn what raw text means
and when to use it.
Frequently Asked
Q: Do I need an account?
No. PlainRaw is completely anonymous. No registration, no login, no subscription. Just text.
Q: How does the edit link work?
The edit link contains a secret key baked into the URL. Anyone with this link can edit. Lose it, and there's no recovery.
Q: What's special about the raw link?
It returns Content-Type: text/plain — pure text, no HTML. Perfect for curl, wget, scripts, or embedding in tools.
Q: How long are snippets stored?
Indefinitely, as long as the service runs. No auto-expiration.
Use Cases
Built for engineers who need raw text without HTML wrappers.
Feature Flags
Lightweight feature toggles. App fetches raw on startup. Edit link changes true/false instantly — no redeploy, no config server.
curl -s .../raw/flags | grep DARK_MODE Kill Switch
Runtime circuit breaker. Service polls raw link. Emergency? Edit to 'disabled' and it's off globally in seconds.
enabled=true → enabled=false LLM Prompt Hosting
Store prompts via edit link. Inference fetches raw — no HTML/markdown contaminating your prompt. AI engineers get this.
curl .../raw/prompt | llm chat Webhook Debug Payloads
Store sample payloads for third-party integrations. Share raw link in docs, Slack, issues. No JSON copying.
curl .../raw/payload | httpie POST Incident Broadcast
One editor, N readers. Post incident notes via edit link. Team reads raw. No 'everyone can edit' chaos like Google Docs.
Raw link in #incidents channel Sample Configuration
Share non-sensitive configuration examples with teammates. They can fetch the same plain text from a browser, a terminal, or a script.
curl .../raw/sample-config Dotfiles Snippets
Host .bashrc/.zshrc fragments. New machine? curl | source. Edit link updates all your devices instantly.
curl .../raw/aliases | source Cross-device Clipboard
Edit on laptop. View raw on phone. No account, no app. Just a URL that holds your current working text.
Phone browser → raw link How We Compare
PlainRaw is built for developers who need raw text output and scriptable access.
| Feature | PlainRaw | Pastebin | Hastebin | Rentry | Gist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw text/plain output Content-Type: text/plain, no HTML | |||||
| Anonymous creation No account required | |||||
| Editable without account Update or delete content | |||||
| curl-friendly CLI / script access | |||||
| Syntax highlighting Code colorization | |||||
| Persistent raw links Links never expire | |||||
| Unlisted / private mode Not publicly indexed | |||||
| Expiration / TTL Auto-delete after time |
Tools
Free developer tools built into PlainRaw. No sign-up required.
JSON Editor
Paste JSON to format, validate, and visualize. Supports tree view and interactive diagram. Syntax-highlighted, real-time error reporting with line numbers.
Mermaid Editor
Write Mermaid diagram code with live SVG preview. Supports flowcharts, sequence, class, state, and ER diagrams. Powered by beautiful-mermaid.
Markdown Editor
Write Markdown with live preview. Supports GFM tables, code blocks with syntax highlighting, and embedded Mermaid diagrams.
Text Diff
Compare two texts side-by-side with real-time, character-level diff highlighting. Paste or type — additions and removals update as you go.
URL Audio Player
Play audio from any URL. Supports direct audio files, podcast RSS/Atom feeds, and plain-text playlists.